Decks of playing cards comprising 52 cards, each denoting a different value from deuce through ace of one of four suits (clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spade), herein referred to as the standard deck, are well known in the art. The use of such standard decks to play a wide variety of card games is also well known in the art. A fact associated with playing a card game with a standard deck is the shortage of high value cards which must be shared between the players. Hands that offer a promise of winning are limited to the least poor hand in the game. While each card of a standard deck must be played at the value indicated on its face, wild cards may be introduced into the game in an attempt to improve the proportion of high value cards.
There have been many proposals in the past for new and different layouts and/or kinds of playing cards for playing new games, variations of old games, etc. One well-known alteration of the standard deck has been to provide a set of cards in which each individual card represents more than one value, as indicated on its face. Such double-valued cards may be used in a game for various purposes. For example, a card that is valued as both an ace and a six can be played as either to the best advantage of the player holding the card.
U.S. Pat. No. 821,781 to Cadwallader discloses a set of cards with double or multiple alternative card values on the face of each individual card, which values may comprise different values of one suit or they may comprise the same or different values of different suits, and from which values one card value may be selected for play as desired by the player. During play, the individual suits may be designated as either major or subordinate suits.
Canadian Patent Number 261,488 to McCarroll describes a deck of cards in which each card has on its face an inner portion representing one card value, and a perimetric outer portion representing a different card value. The set essentially consists of two sets, each comprising a full set of 52 cards, but the physical set having only 52 cards in all. In a card game, the players may elect to play either the inner card value or the outer card value. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 1,693,525 to Niederlitz discloses a deck of 52 cards having eight different suits represented by inner and outer zones of different values and suits.
A deck of double-valued cards, designed so that every number value of a given suit is paired once with every number value of the other suits, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,193 to Winston. The deck comprises 60 double-valued cards consisting of three different suits with four different number values per suit, and twelve half-wild cards consisting of a fifth number value which is wild in terms of its suit.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,798,672 to Hines illustrates a deck of cards with a diagonal strip dividing each card into two areas bearing different designations and colors. Another alternative form of a deck with double-valued cards is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,551,761 to McCarroll.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,358, Hancock reveals a deck of 52 cards wherein 48 cards are configured as double-valued cards having two zones with each zone assigned a card value ranging from three through ace configured such that the card value in one zone is distinctly different from the card value in the other zone. The four residual cards, though divided into two distinct zones, nevertheless are single-value cards representing in each zone the same suit deuce of a standard deck. By assigning a color to one of the zones of each card and a distinctly different color to the other zone of each card, the 52 card deck of '358 essential yields two standard decks, one of which may be designated as a major deck and the other as a minor deck.